Facebook Banned in World's Third

The Republic of Nauru sits in the central Pacific and is home to around 10,000 people. The Micronesian island is 8.1 square miles in total area, which makes it the third-smallest country in the world (behind Vatican City and Monaco).

And it’s just banned Facebook.

“Pornography is not consistent with our faith or our values,” said Minister for Justice David Adeang, according to The Guardian. “Nauru is a small country with limited resources, and we do not have the capability to monitor the internet like larger nations, so this move and our new laws are both significant measures. The size of our nation makes us more vulnerable.”

Yes, you heard that right. Pornography.

Facebook is a lot of things, but porn hub it is not. Any sort of pornographic imagery or videos is strictly prohibited on the site, and if anything Facebook is known to go over-the-top when it comes to removing content – not the other way around.

If you post a nipple on Facebook, it’s not going to be up for long.

Some are saying that the ban has nothing to do with pornography, but instead has everything to do with stifling governmental opposition.

An opposition member told The Guardianthat “this is all about Adeang and his cronies being worried about the ever increasing number of people who have taken to social media to criticize his dictatorial style, which even the president is either unwilling – or too scared – to rein in.”

And Pacific Freedom Forum’s Jason Brown told Radio New Zealandthat it’s just going to backfire:

“The ban will have the opposite effect to what it is seeking to do which is stifle public debate. In fact it has got global attention, with newspapers, radio and television reporting it all over the world. Anything to do with Facebook is almost guaranteed a headline so if Nauru was trying to quieten things down, their ban has achieved quite the opposite,” he said.

Appears he may be right.